Less Than Half of New York City’s Applicants for Pre-K Get Their Top-Choice School

Mayor Bill de Blasio with Delnaye Cadogan, whose daughter, Odianne, 3, was accepted into prekindergarten at Public School 203 in Brooklyn.

Ruth Fremson / The New York Times

By AL BAKER

June 5, 2014

Fewer than half of New York City children seeking a free prekindergarten seat received one in their top-choice public school for the next school year, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday.

The school system has about 26,411 prekindergarten seats in either full- or half-day programs, 97 percent of which have been matched with applicants.

Over all, roughly two-thirds of the approximately 41,000 children seeking seats in September were accommodated, though parents may discover their children were matched with their fifth or even their 12th choice. About one-third of children who applied were not matched at all.

“We know there’s going to be some really happy families today,” Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference at Public School 203, an elementary school in Brooklyn. “We know there’s going to be other families who are looking for the next step in the process and the next opportunities.”

The data released Thursday highlights just how thorny a task the mayor faces in fulfilling his signature policy goal: broadening access to free, full-day prekindergarten to every 4-year-old. Though more children than ever before will be served, the mayor’s promise must also meet surging demand. So far, 35 percent more families have applied compared with last year.

“The overcrowded districts in the traditional public schools are obviously a challenge because we don’t have as much space to play with by definition,” said Mr. de Blasio, who cited central Queens as one example. “But in terms of demand habits across the city, we need to do a little more analysis.”

The public school seats represent just a portion of Mr. de Blasio’s vision for expanding early childhood education. But they are in some ways the most coveted, since they often have established programs.

Now, with just 45 percent of children this year being matched to the school that ranked first on their list, the mayor’s prekindergarten effort has hit a more complicated logistical phase.

The city is aiming to fill around 20,000 full-time, and 6,000 part-time prekindergarten seats in public schools by September, with the plan for city-funded community groups to serve most of about 25,000 more 4-year-olds. The city also expects to identify an additional 8,000 seats over the summer.

Such an expansion is unprecedented. This school year, the city offered prekindergarten seats in district schools to about 16,100 students.

Questions remain about the quality of curriculums the children will receive, the experience of the teachers and the configuration of the spaces they will occupy. For children so young, only 20 children per classroom are allowed. The city turned away around 40 percent of community groups applying to host such programs because they were deemed not up to standards.

Last week, roughly 200 groups had their contracts to operate a total of 281 prekindergarten sites approved. Among those sites are 53 open Buildings Department violations, 18 of which are considered serious, city officials said. Some of those may have already been cleared up, the officials said.

Over all, there are roughly 550 contracted providers, including those approved last week.

To ensure that the community organizations have the same quality as public schools, more inspectors are being hired. The Fire Department is creating a 20-member task force devoted to prekindergarten inspections. The Education Department’s early childhood team to evaluate and monitor the programs is set to rise to 250 employees from 150.

A majority of parents who applied online will receive notifications via email by Thursday, city officials said.

Last year, 90 percent of the prekindergarten seats available in the city’s public schools wound up being filled, officials said.

One parent in Brooklyn, Karol Markowicz, said she celebrated her daughter’s receiving a spot in their zoned school, P.S. 118 in Park Slope, by sending a snapshot of the email to her husband.

“I’m really happy and just very settled,” Ms. Markowicz said.

Another parent, Shia Levitt, said she applied to four schools since her daughter’s zoned school starts at kindergarten.

“I applied thinking it was a long shot,” said Ms. Levitt, who also lives in Park Slope.